the city decided to hold a great public festival in honor of the ratification. there was, of course, food involved. so they had tables of food to ease the occasion. among the tables of food at the public celebration was a table of food appropriate for the jewish residents of philadelphia, a table of kosher food. i think this event is emblematic of something that was different in the united states from any other previous nation. we were not the first place to have some kind of religious freedom, but this public celebration in philadelphia shows what kind of religious freedom was going to be enjoyed in the united states. first of all, it is one based upon principles of inclusion. it is welcoming. it is not mere toleration. it is not that we have some officially dominant group, although, demographically, there was a dominant group. not officially and not publicly. instead, the others are not just tolerated, but welcome and are fully part of the event. -- fully part of the event, and secondly, this is in public. there have been regimes in which the freedom of religi